The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1887-12-21
Obituary..


CoNANT.-Hon. John A. Conant of Bran
don died Sunday, aged eighty-seven. He
was long an iron manufacturer, a director
of the Rutland railroad and bank president.
He had served in both branches of the legis-
lature.
ALvoRD.-Hon. Horace Alvord of Will
mington, VT, died Sunday, aged ninety
four. He had represented the town in the
Legislature, served as assistant Judge of the
county court and held all important local
Offices
Notwithstanding P. Rounds, public
printer under Garfield and Arthur and for
a year past editor and chief proprietor of
the Omaha Republican, died at Omaha,
Neb., Saturday, of pneumonia. Mr.. Rounds
was born in Berkshire, VT, in 1918, and
went with his parents to Wisconsin when
twelve years old. He was for many years
in the newspaper and printing business in
that state.
SEARs.--Hon Benjamin r. Sears, prom
inent resident of Bennington Center, died
December IA of urpmic poisoning. He was
born in Bennington in 1907. The deceased
had held a number of public offices, the
most prominent of which was associate
judge of the county court. His services
were much sought after in the settlement of
estates. For about thirty years he was the
Bennington agent of the late Seth b. Hunt,
and he devoted a considerable portion of
his time to the management of the extensive
property that is now known as the Vermont
Soldiers Home.
MEAD.-Colonel John b. Mead of Ran
dolph died suddenly at his home Friday
morning. He had been in poor health since
the New Orleans exposition, where he con-
tracted malaria For the last year or two he
had been engaged in an emigration scheme
and the formation of a Vermont colony
in Dakota. He had an extensive acquaint-
ance in Vermont and other states and his
death will be sincerely mourned. Colonel
Mead was born in Stratham, \. H., March
10, 1881. He was educated at the Orange
County Grammar School and Oxford On II }
Academy; removed to Randolph, VT, in
boyhood and became farmer. When the
war broke out he enlisted in the Eighth
Regiment of Vermont Volunteers. He
went out as second lieutenant of Company
G, and rose through all the intermediate
grades to the coonelcy of the regiment be-
ing promoted tirst-lieutenant April 2, 1868
captain of company G, May 8, 1863 major,
July 26, 1864; lieutenant-colonel November
| "a, 1864; colonel, March 4, 1865. He was
mustered out of service June 2S, 1865. He
was captured at Bayou Des Allemands,
Louisiana, September 4, 1862 and was in
! the enemy's hands for several months. He
distinguished himself in the battle of Cedar
! Creek, in which he commanded the regi-
ment and was wounded. Colonel Mead
represented the town of Randolph in 1867
and was state senator for Orange county in
| 1878. He was a prominent agriculturist
and for several years state superintendent
of agriculture. He was the Vermont com
missioner for the New Orleans interna-
! tional exposition of 1885 and New England
commissioner for the supplementary exhi-
| bition of 1886. For many years he was at
! the head of the Good Templars organization
in this state; also of the Patrons of Hus-
bandry. He was fluent speaker and an
effective advocate OF temperance and the
public schools; an earnest republican,
often prominent in the party conventions,
and an active member of the Congrega-
! tional church
! HUTCHINSON following is from the
! Chicago Inter- ocean of December 18th: "Hon.
John Hutchinson, well-known lawyer of
| this city, died at his residence, No. 3143 In
diana avenue, yesterday morning. He was
born in Randolph, VT, March %, 1880, and
| graduated from Dartmouth College in the
class of 1858. Having chosen law as his
profession, he studied in the office of the
Hon. William H. Seward in Auburn, n. Y,
with whom he contracted lifelong friend
ship. He removed from Auburn to Madi-
son, Wis, where he was admitted to the bar
in 1854 In the autumn of that year he went
to Lawrence, Kan, where he at once took a
prominent part in the stirring scenes which
followed, and was elected member of the
first territorial legislature, being present
y
troops under command of Lieutenant latter
ward generaD Sumner, and he was sent to
the Eastern States by the executive COM
mittee OF Kansas to advocate before their
legislatures and congress the admission of
Kansas as free state. Until this result
was reached he toiled constantly to attain
it and encountered much personal danger.
When Lawrence was sacked in 1856 his Of
flee was pillaged and his library destroyed.
During the presidential campaigns of 1856
and 1860 he made speeches through the
| Northern States, and when Lincoln was
elected, by Mr.. Stewards invitation he went
to Washington and was at once appointed
secretary of Dakota territory. Meanwhile,
owing to ill-health, he had moved to Min
neapolis where he remained for two years,
practicing at the bar. Soon after he became
secretary of Dakota the governor of the ter
rtory resigned, and till the end of his term,
in 1886, Mr.. Hutchinson was acting gov
ernor The territorial difficulties which led
to the resignation of the governor brought
! Mr.. Hutchinson into close personal relations
with President Lincoln. Appointed in 1865
under President Lincoln's administration
! United States consul to Leghorn, Italy, he
resided abroad with his family until 1869,
when he came to Chicago and again re-
sumed active law practice. Here he re-
mained till his DEATH winning the respect
and love of all with whom he came in con-
tact either through business or social rela-
! tons. He was an exemplary member of
| Trinity Episcopal church and prominent in
Lakeside Masonic lodge. He leaves an only
surviving daughter and widow, besides a
host OF warm personal friends, to mourn his
! loss His death was caused by an obscure
and complicated disease of the liver, which
baffied all the efforts of his physicians"